Bad experience with North Star Nursery in Allen, TX

[maximumrob]

Well, it appears that we have to find a new nursery. My folks, my sister and brother-in-law, and ourselves had been using North Star exclusively for a few years and that all changed yesterday.

About a month ago, my aunt purchased a 65gal sweet gum (~15ft tall) for us as a gift and had North Star plant it. We followed Larry's watering instructions to the "t," but less than two weeks later the tree had nothing but brown leaves. Larry came out to view the tree and confirmed that it definitely had given up the ghost. He offered to replace it if we'd come the nursery and choose another since it was clear that we did not kill it. We were flattered and truly impressed since we hadn't purchased any kind of warranty. We had sworn that Larry would be our man from here on out for any green purchase!

HOWEVER, the tone changed when we visited yesterday. Because my aunt had struck such a good deal on the tree - 65gal for a 45gal price - Larry said we couldn't have an identical product and would only replace the value of the sale -- a 45gal tree. Clearly he's in the wrong, because negotiated price has nothing to do with post-sales support. If you got a great deal on a full-size truck and paid a mini-truck price, would you expect less support from the dealer later on? NO! During the discussion, Larry even changed his story on how he thought the tree died and accused us of overwatering it. At that point, he'd made it clear what kind of man we were dealing with.

I haven't yet decided if North Star will GET THE PRIVILEGE of visiting our home again to replace the dead tree, but we have decided, OUR ENTIRE FAMILY, that they won't be selling anything else to us.

Anybody have any suggestions on reasonably-priced, good quality nurseries in the Collin County area? We have 1ac. that still needs a lot more trees and planters!

maximumrob

[old girl 54]

Sorry about your bad experience. Three years ago, I landscaped my son's new house in Wylie and last year, I started working on mine. All of my trees were purchased at Bruce Miller Nursery on Beltline Rd in Richardson and Tree-Land in Gunther. Both the best prices and best quality. All when planted by them, guaranteed for one year. For bedding plants, my best experiences have been with Plants and Planters on Greenville, Richardson, The Plant Market on Beltline, Richardson and Crumps in McKinney. For Shrubs, I've always used Northhaven (although sometimes pricey), any Calloways and again Bruce Miller Nursery.

You can visit Tree-Land on the Web at www.tree-land.com. You can visit his 40 acreas every weekend. He's busy planting during the week. I purchased several trees from him as well as Mary Nell Hollys.

Good luck.

[maximumrob]

You're the second person to suggest Bruce Miller. I guess I'll have to give him a try.

Thanks!

[Nadine]

You will have the best success when purchasing plants grown orgainically. I have purchased plants from Redenta's, Green Mama's, and North Haven Gardens that have really suprised me. I might take a little long to get them in the ground sometimes. :oops: I can not get over how well the plants raised organically withstood conditions under which plants from conventional nurseries have died.

The main reason is that conventional nurseries want fast growth to get more plants in the least amount of time. They do this by feeding high nitrogen fertilizers which result in a plant with weak, watery cells. Plants like this are more susceptible to insect infestation and other problems because they are not healthy. It would be like raising a newborn baby on fast, nutritionless food.